Kiss It Better
by brokenmoonlight
Summary: Howard gets ill, and Vince frets that the worst will happen. Then a slip up at the hospital causes an awkward moment between the boys.


**A/N: After giving Vince such a hard time, I decided to give Howard some bad luck instead. I know, I'm evil, but for the most part this story is actually quite light, and it contains plenty of fluff!**

**Disclaimer: S'not mine, I swear.**

**xxxx**

Vince wasn't sure what was up with Howard. For the last couple of hours he'd been sat behind the counter, hardly saying anything and looking like he was in severe discomfort. Thinking he was just having a sulk because Vince had once again been late for work, the smaller man, trying to lighten the mood, looked up from where he was sorting though a pile of vintage clothing and grinned at Howard cheekily.

"Oi, you lazy git. If you want some work to do go and put the kettle on."

Howard scowled at him, and the grin instantly disappeared from Vince's face.

"All right! I was only messin'. What's wrong with you, anyway? You've barely said two words to me and whenever I ask you something all I get is a 'yes' or 'no'. You haven't had another encounter with Eleanor, have ya?"

Howard gave him his most intense glare. "Piss off, Vince."

Vince frowned, and would have retaliated if Howard hadn't instantly stood up and begun hobbling towards the stairs, hunched over with a hand pressed to his right side. Vince pushed away the clothes that had been resting on his lap and got up off the floor, hurrying over to Howard and putting a hand on his arm.

"Where you goin', you lemon? Sit down. What have you done to yourself?" Vince tried to guide him back over to the chair but Howard was having none of it and pulled away, falling against the wall, his eyes watering as he gasped in pain.

"Howard! Howard, what is it?"

"It's nothing, Vince, nothing." he said through gritted teeth, his breathing laboured. "Probably just pulled a muscle."

Vince was about to answer that with a witty remark, but the look on Howard's face was just daring him to, so he kept his mouth shut. "All right, well, let's get you upstairs and I'll make some tea, yeah?"

Howard grumbled as Vince went to lock the door, but let himself be led up the stairs all the same. Every movement seemed to cause him more and more agony, and by the time Vince had helped him onto the sofa Howard looked like he was about to pass out. Vince put the kettle on, then shuffled from foot to foot uncertainly as he watched Howard, who was leaning forwards with his arms crossed over his stomach. He looked very pale.

"Howard, are you sure it's just a pulled muscle? You look like you're about to throw up."

Howard glanced up at him, pain etched all over his face. "Thanks, Vince. And yes, I'm pretty sure. Just hand me some painkillers, will you?"

Vince delved into the medicine drawer, but all he could find were plasters, a half-used tube of antiseptic cream, a packet of indigestion tablets and some travel sickness pills. "Um..."

"Oh, for goodness sake." Howard tried to stand up, but he yelped in pain and fell sideways. Vince rushed over to where he was now in a heap on the floor, clutching at the side of his stomach and moaning. He tried to help Howard back onto the sofa, but Howard practically howled, and Vince was looking increasingly scared.

"I'm gonna call an ambulance," he said, reaching over to the coffee table for the phone.

"No, Vince, it's fine."

"It bloody well isn't. Stop being so stubborn. What you gonna do anyway? You can't exactly chase after me and pull the phone from my hands."

Howard sighed heavily and squeezed his eyes shut as a wave of nausea pulsed through him. He felt hot and dizzy, and could barely make out what Vince was saying on the phone.

"Yeah, to the right of his abdomen... okay, hang on. Howard? Howard!"

Howard opened his eyes. "What?" he asked breathlessly.

"Do you feel sick? Did the pain come on suddenly and get worse quickly?"

"Yes and yes."

Vince put the phone back against his ear. "Yeah, he does and it did... no, he hasn't been sick... I'll just check."

Vince knelt down next to Howard and put a hand to his damp forehead, Howard weakly trying to bat it away. Vince flapped at him.

"Yeah, he's burnin' up... okay, all right, thanks." Vince hung up the phone.

"Well?"

"Ambulance is on it's way."

"God, I feel like I'm dying."

"Don't say that!" Vince cried, suddenly panicked.

"Whoa there, chicken. I'm sure it's nothing."

Vince didn't look so sure, and his eyes involuntarily began to well up. He might take the piss out of a lot of things, but even _he_ was able to realise when something was serious. Howard reached a hand up to Vince's face and gave his cheek a gentle pinch.

"Hey, now. Come on, little man; I'll be okay."

Vince nodded, but took hold of Howard's hand all the same.

xxxx

"Mr Noir?"

Vince practically jumped out of his seat as the doctor came towards him, wringing his hands together nervously, a million things running through his mind at once, none of them good.

"Is Howard okay?"

The doctor smiled kindly at him. Vince wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Howard has appendicitis, and he needs a laparoscopic appendectomy."

Vince's face screwed up. "A laparo what?"

"Laparoscopic appendectomy. It's a surgical procedure to remove his appendix."

"Surgery?!"

"Relax, Mr Noir. It's quite a simple procedure, but his appendix is in danger of rupturing so we need to operate now."

Vince eyes widened and his face was sickly pale. "What happens if it does that? Will he die?"

The doctor put a hand on Vince's arm to calm him. "There are several complications that can arise from a burst appendix, but he's in the best place and fatalities are rare. Even so, it hasn't come to that yet, although you must realise that every operation carries a certain amount of risk. However, I'm confident he'll make a full recovery."

Vince swallowed heavily, his head spinning as his brain pushed out all rationality and went straight to the worst case scenario.

"You can walk with him up to surgery, if you'd like?"

Nodding, Vince followed the doctor up the corridor, eventually stopping outside a small room. The doctor showed him in and Vince stepped past, gasping when he saw how ill Howard looked. A nurse moved so he could get to Howard's side and he took hold of his hand, Howard smiling at him weakly.

"Hey, little man."

"Hey."

Vince sniffed and Howard squeezed his hand.

"Vince... look at me."

Vince did, his big blue eyes shining with tears.

"Everything's gonna be okay, I promise."

Swiping at his eyes, Vince tried to smile. "I'm sorry. Look at me, standing here frettin' when I'm not even the one who's ill."

"It's all right," Howard said, as his bed was wheeled out into the corridor. "I know it looks scary."

"Aren't you afraid?" Vince asked as he walked beside him, still clutching his hand.

"I'm not afraid of something that's going to make me better." In truth, Howard was terrified, but he wasn't going to tell Vince that. He looked frightened enough as it was.

Vince seemed to accept this, although it was with a huge reluctance that he pulled away from Howard when they reached the outside of the operating room. He bent down and placed a kiss to Howard's forehead, the bigger man smiling at him as he was wheeled away. Vince sat down on one of the chairs and waited, his knees jiggling about nervously. After a while he got up to get some tea from the vending machine, but when he sat back down with it he found he felt too queasy to drink it. He decided to ring Naboo instead and let him know what was going on, needing someone to comfort him and tell him Howard was going to be fine. As it turned out, Naboo wasn't actually that good at that sort of thing, and Bollo wasn't much help either.

So he waited.

xxxx

Vince stared at Howard impatiently, willing him to wake up so he'd know for sure that he was okay. The doctor had told him that the operation had been successful, but Vince needed to hear Howard talk to him before he allowed himself to relax.

"Vince?"

Startled, Vince leant over Howard's bed and put a hand on his arm. "I'm here," he said, smiling with relief as Howard's eyes fluttered open, receiving a small smile in return as Howard focused on him.

"Hey."

"Whatcha. How you feelin'?"

"Like I've been cut open," he joked, weakly.

Vince burst into tears and Howard looked horrified.

"Vince, I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"

"No, no, it's not that," Vince said, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes, desperately trying to to calm down. He felt ridiculous.

"What then?" Howard asked, his voice hoarse.

"I'm sorry, I just wound myself up too much, thinkin' I was never gonna see you again," he choked, looking away from Howard in embarrassment.

Howard looked at him fondly, feeling guilty for ever thinking that Vince was only capable of thinking about himself. "Come on, please don't cry. I'm fine, and now you're just making me want to hug you, and I can't move."

Vince smiled and wiped at his eyes, shifting so he was half lying on the bed, his head next to Howard's.

"Hello," Howard said, turning his head to look at him.

"Hi."

Howard ran his hand down Vince's arm, the only comforting gesture he could manage. "Better?"

"I think so. Does it really hurt?"

Howard thought for a second. "Not much, but I'm guessing that's because I'm being pumped full of drugs," he said, lifting his other arm slightly, which had an IV line attached to a valve on the inside of his elbow.

"Howard?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for messing you about this morning."

"I'm sorry I was so grumpy with you. I should have just told you what was wrong instead of ignoring you."

"Yeah, but I know why you didn't. You were trying to be all man of action."

Howard laughed, and then winced as the movement pulled at his side.

"Careful," Vince said, "You'll pull your stitches."

"Just shut up and pass me some water," Howard said, but he was grinning all the same.

A nurse came in then, giving Vince a look which was clearly meant to get him off the bed. She checked Howard's vitals and offered him what she obviously thought was a friendly smile.

"How are you feeling, Mr Moon?"

"Oh, you know, same old."

Vince tried not to laugh, and ended up sniggering behind his hand. The nurse didn't look impressed.

"The doctor will be in to see you shortly," she said, before turning on her heel to leave.

"Bad Howard. There's no way you'll be getting a sponge bath off her now."

Howard pulled a face. "Just as well really - I know who'd I'd rather have do it." Then he blushed, the words having fallen from his mouth like word vomit before he'd even had a chance to think about them.

Vince was also turning a lovely shade of red. "W-what?"

Howard coughed. "I..." But he was saved as the doctor walked in.

xxxx

A few days later Howard was allowed home. Neither he nor Vince had mentioned Howard's little slip-up at the hospital, and were acting as though nothing had happened. Secretly though, Vince's head was in a spin and his feelings for Howard were all confused. He wanted to ask if Howard had really been referring to him or not, or if it had just been the drugs talking. He looked over from where he was making tea in the kitchen to where Howard was settled on the sofa, blanket pulled over him and his eyes fixed on the television. He could tell Howard wasn't really paying attention to it, and he was so preoccupied with wondering about what he was thinking that he scolded himself with the hot water.

"Shit!" he cried, jumping back and flapping his hand about.

"Vince?"

"No! Don't get up, you need to rest," Vince said, as he turned the cold tap on over the sink and stuck his hand under it. "I'm fine, it wasn't much." He stood there for a minute or so until the burning sensation started to fade, then carried on with the tea as if nothing had happened, ignoring the small red patch on his skin, which was beginning to throb slightly. "There you go." He put Howard's mug in front of him on the coffee table.

"Are you okay?"

Dandy," Vince replied, blowing on his own tea before taking a sip.

Howard looked downhearted. "Vince -"

"Howard -"

Howard gestured at him. "You first."

Vince put his mug down and twisted his fingers together nervously. "What you said at the hospital – what was that?"

"Um..." Howard reddened slightly and stumbled over his words. "I... I... It was just the medication, I guess. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Okay."

Howard frowned. Did Vince sound... disappointed?

"Vince?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you..."

"What?"

Howard shook his head. "No, nothing. Doesn't matter."

Vince looked down at his shoes. "Right."

The awkward silence that followed quickly became too much for Vince, who opened his mouth without stopping to think about what he was saying.

"I would've."

Howard choked slightly. "W-what?"

Vince became flustered and shifted about on the sofa uncomfortably, inwardly kicking himself for being so stupid. He looked at Howard, who was staring back at him nervously, but there was this look in his eyes...

"I-I don't mean... I mean I... I... Oh, sod it." Vince leant forward and kissed Howard on the mouth, pulling away again before he even had a chance to react. Howard blinked at him, his mouth dropping open. Vince would have laughed if he wasn't busy trying not to throw up.

"Vince..."

"I'm sorry!" he cried, his voice unnaturally high. He went to jump up, but Howard grabbed the front of his t-shirt and pulled him back towards him so they were almost nose to nose.

"That wasn't fair," Howard whispered, his eyes locked on Vince's. He could feel the smaller man trembling slightly, and then realised that he was too.

"I'm sorry," Vince whispered back, looking like he was about to cry.

Howard knew he needed to rectify the situation immediately. Swallowing heavily, and running a thumb gently over the small burn on Vince's hand, he said, "you didn't even give me a chance."

Before Vince could say anything, Howard closed the small gap between them and kissed him softly. Vince relaxed against him, hardly daring to breathe as they settle into a slow, sweet rhythm. They shook against each other, Howard's hand coming up to run through Vince's hair, Vince wrapping his arms gently around Howard's neck, not pulling him too close for fear of causing him any discomfort. Eyes closed, their lips brushed together in slow strokes, and they happily stayed like that for a while, until Howard decided to be daring and lick at Vince's bottom lip. Vince sighed contentedly and opened his mouth, their tongues slowing coming together and causing tiny explosions as they gently slid against each other. Just as Howard was beginning to wonder just what he'd been worrying about, a pain in his side had him pulling away sharply.

"Ow!"

Vince's eyes widened, thinking he'd been the cause. "I'm sor-"

Howard put a finger to his lips to stop him from apologising. "It's all right. I just need to sit back a bit." He smiled at Vince, and received a brilliant one in return. He pulled Vince back with him as he settled against the cushions, the smaller man's head resting against his shoulder.

"That was nice," Vince whispered, sounding sleepy, his eyes drifting closed.

Howard poked him in the side. "_Nice_?" he said, sounding indignant.

"Wha-" but when he looked up, Howard was grinning at him cheekily.

"Arse," Vince grumbled, burying his face in Howard's neck. Howard chuckled, and then Vince couldn't pretend to be upset any longer and he laughed too. "It was amazing. But what you just did was very naughty, so just you wait till you're better – then you'll be sorry."

Howard peered down at him, intrigued by the threat, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Then Vince smiled against his neck and placed a small kiss there.

Happy, Howard let his eyes close, and he was about to drop off when he felt soft lips press against his own. He smiled. "Hello."

"Hello."

Howard opened his eyes. "What d'you want?" he asked, teasingly.

"I was just checking."

"Oh. Do you want to check again?"

Vince pretended to think about this for a second. Then he shrugged. "Okay."

They kissed again, nuzzling each others faces sweetly, until Howard couldn't keep himself awake any longer, no matter how much he wanted to. Vince took pity on him and ran his thumb over his cheek, Howard falling asleep almost instantly under his touch.

"I love you," he whispered, before succumbing completely, his breathing evening out and his head lolling to one side.

Vince snuggled into Howard carefully, snaking an arm across his chest, a beautiful smile lighting up his face. "I know. I love you too."


End file.
